The Voyage of St. Brendan

St. Brendan (ca. 484-577) was one of the most famous of the Celtic pilgrims, renowned not only for the piety of his life and for founding several monasteries in Ireland, but also for his amazing voyages west over the open seas in one of these small boats which were (and still are) called coracles. It is certain that on his longest voyage he and his fellow monks made it as far west as Newfoundland, and there is good reason to believe that he even made it farther south on the North American continent. The written account of his journey, "The Voyage of St. Brendan", became a 'best-seller' for a thousand years as sort of a combination of adventure story and devotional writing. He is considered to be a patron saint of pilgrims and his feast day is May 16. At times, St. Brendan, out on a small boat at seas with his fellow monk, would direct them to pull in the rudder and just let the wind take them where they should go. He said, "Is not God the pilot and sailor of our boats? Leave it to him… he himself guides our journey as he will."

Peregrenatio, the spiritual discipline of pilgrimage, stands as one of the most enduring legacies of the Celtic Christian tradition. Ian Bradley writes in The Celtic Way, "Peregrenatio was the outward symbol of an inner change, a metaphor and a symbol for that journey towards deeper faith and greater holiness and that journey towards God which is the Christian life."

But this journey also had a profoundly outward element. Indeed, in the second half of the first millennium much of northern Europe was evangelized because of these simple, wandering saints who carried little but a Bible and a staff. They were the first to carry the gospel message to N. Europe and founded monasteries in Scotland, England, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and down into Italy.

Mission/Vision

Coracle exists to inspire and enable people to be the presence of God in the world by offering spiritual formation and Kingdom action.

Since the first centuries of the Christian church until now, across the Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant spectrum, noteworthy leaders have made the same assertion, and it is a bold one.

In the 2nd century, St. Irenaeus said it: ‘Through his transcendant love, our Lord Jesus Christ became what we are, that he might make us into what he is.’

In the 4th century St. Athanasius, said it: ‘God became man that man might become God.’

In the 5th century St. Augustine said it: “God wanted to be the Son of Man and he wanted men and women to be Sons of God.”

In the 16th Century Martin Luther said it: ‘For the Word becomes flesh precisely so that the flesh may become word.’

Last century CS Lewis said it: ‘The Son of God became a man to enable men and women to become sons of God.’

Lewis goes on, “Every Christian is to become a little Christ. The whole purpose of becoming a Christian is simply nothing else.” He continues, “This is the whole of Christianity. There is nothing else….The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose.”

That’s what Coracle is about most fundamentally: helping each other say a loud “Yes!” to the invitation to share in the life of Jesus while we’re in the world–to incarnate the Incarnation–and share the love of Jesus to this beautiful and broken world, for the glory of God empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Coracle exists “to inspire and enable people to be the presence of God in the world by offering spiritual formation and Kingdom action.” This is our mission.

Our vision is to do that in a number of ways including spiritual direction and discipleship, retreats for individuals and groups, sacramental ministry and services, pilgrimage, communication, and ministries of mercy and justice, mission trips, and creation care. You can find out more about the various forms these take by clicking HERE.

Corhaven is a “retreat home” nestled in the Shenandoah Valley offering solitude and retreats for individuals or larger groups.